Penang Property Talk | Penang Investment | Plans for Heritage Square

Penang Property Talk | Penang Investment

Wednesday August 1, 2012

Plans for Heritage Square New enclave will complement revitalisation of Komtar, says CM
By WINNIE YEOH and CLIFFORD LEE
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

GEORGE TOWN: The old Sia Boey market will be part of a 1.82ha plot of land to be turned into a new heritage enclave on the island.

The enclave, to be known as Heritage Square, is a project under the Komtar Phase Five development announced by the state government and the Penang Deve-lopment Corporation (PDC).

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the move was in line with George Town’s World Heritage Listing and would complement the revitalisaation of Komtar as a socio-civic centre and business hub of the state.

“It will be a complete makeover and it will predominantly be used as a public space,” he said after visiting Sia Boey in Lebuh Tek Soon yesterday.

The project will have five major elements – restoration and expansion of Sia Boey (Prangin Market), the creation of urban spaces, a heritage celebration square and an iconic George Town heritage centre, reinstatement and adaptive reuse of old shophouses and restoration of the Prangin Canal.

Under the plan, it is hoped that the square and centre would restore the cultural vibrancy of George Town by promoting living heritage and street life as well as green the city to ensure balanced development in the area.

Lim, who is also PDC chairman, said the draft plans would be open to the public for viewing next week.

“The draft is subject to changes. We want to make public viewing available before Hari Raya Aidilfitri,” he said.

The revitalisation will include a visitors’ centre, crafts and souvenir retail areas, flowers and food hubs.

PDC is also expected to build an adjacent market to complement the existing one. However, this will be a “dry” market instead of “wet” one.

The plan will also see existing shophouses along Maxwell Road undergo adaptive reuse into cafes, coffee shops, teahouses, handicraft centres, mini museums, boutiques and B&B hotels in line with the heritage ambience and theme of the area.

A five-storey building would be erected to add to the vibrancy of the square.

The restoration of the Prangin Canal would include plans for a hawker street food zone and street furniture in well-landscaped areas.

Source reference link: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/8/1/north/11771391&sec=north

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Penang Property | Singaporeans snap up Malaysian property as ringgit weakens

By Clara Choo

KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — More Singaporeans are streaming across the Causeway to buy up property in Malaysia, taking advantage of the weakening ringgit which has fallen by 2.7 per cent in the past year to reach a 14-year low against the Singapore dollar.

Singapore’s Straits Times (ST) reported today figures from Malaysia Property Inc — an agency that promotes Malaysia’s real estate abroad — showing that the total transaction value of real estate here had spiked by 28 per cent last year to RM137.8 billion from RM107.4 billion in 2010.

Of the total, the paper said, two per cent were foreign investments.

Noting the trend, local agents have also been increasing efforts to lure Singaporeans into investing in the Malaysian property market through heavy advertising, roadshows and road trips for potential buyers to visit sites.

Citing property agency HSR’s overseas department head Donna Lim, the daily reported that the number of exhibition visits from Singaporeans alone had seen a sharp incline from last year.

Property agent Propnex was cited as saying that Singaporeans had purchased 50 units through them in the second quarter of the year, double the amount purchased in the first quarter.

Leisure Farm Singapore head Peter Lim said Singaporeans had bought 35 units in Johor’s Iskandar region over the past two months, compared to merely a dozen in the first two months of last year.

“The weakening Malaysian ringgit, the lure of owning landed property and familiarity with the country are reasons they (Singaporeans) cite for looking north,” the daily wrote.

But although the capital of Kuala Lumpur continues to have its lure, Singaporean investors are finding better familiarity with Johor and are particularly attracted to the state’s bustling Iskandar region.

Citing Malaysia Property Inc, ST reported that in the first half of 2010 alone, foreigners made up only four per ent of Johor’s property transactions for purchases above RM1 million.

“In the corresponding period last year, however, that figure shot up to 25 per cent,” the paper wrote. “Much of the demand has been generated by the buzz over the Iskandar region, earmarked by the Malaysian government as a major growth area for the country.”

According to Edwin Tan, director of the Paragon Residences @ Straits View Malaysia project in Iskandar, Singaporeans booked 116 units during a roadshow earlier this month while only 54 bookings were made by Malaysians.

Apart from Johor, the ST reported that many Singaporeans have also been venturing further up north in Malaysia to scout for potential investments in Malacca, Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

Hunza Properties senior marketing and sales manager Lily Tan was cited as saying that Singaporeans account for some 15 per cent of the firm’s unit sales in its newest condominium Gurney Paragon in Penang.

“The weakening of the ringgit against the Singapore dollar is expected to further stimulate demand. It has fallen by 2.7 per cent in the past year to reach a 14-year low against the Singapore dollar,” ST wrote.

[Analysts say Singaporean investors are particularly attracted to Johor’s bustling Iskandar region as they visit the state often.]

Source reference link: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/mobile/malaysia/article/singaporeans-snap-up-malaysian-property-as-ringgit-weakens/

VULCAN INTERNATIONAL Real Estate Investors Club | Penang Property

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Penang Property | The 8-mural in the city of Georgetown Heritage Zone,Penang MALAYSIA.

Penang Property | The 8-mural in the city of Georgetown Heritage Zone, Penang MALAYSIA. Mural#1 & 2.

Courtesy of VulcanInternational | Penang Property
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Thursday July 19, 2012

Trishaw mural set to draw interest

INTERNATIONAL artist Ernest Zacharevic has managed to bring his idea to life by painting a gigantic mural of a man sitting in a trishaw in George Town Penang.

Zacharevic, from Lithuania, is now famed for his murals of his ‘Mirrors George Town’ street art project for the George Town Festival 2012.

The gigantic mural about 15.2m by 15.2m is majestically painted on a wall of a building in Upper Penang Road beside the Red Garden Food Paradise car park.

The mural was his sixth, which was painted within the core heritage zone of George Town.

“I find it most interesting to see the trishaw-man using the trishaw to hide from the sun and to sleep and sip coffee after a hard day’s work. It is an interesting concept and it gave me the idea to paint it,” said Zacharevic.

My gift to Penang: Zacharevic posing in front of his mural in Upper Penang Road
The 25-year-old added that the location is also perfect as there is a trishaw pick-up spot (beside Cititel Hotel) just a stone’s throw away from where the mural was painted.

It took Zacharevic about a week to complete the gigantic mural painting.

George Town Festival 2012 director Joe Sidek was grateful to the state for giving freedom for artists to promote the diversified arts and culture scene here.

Singaporean actress Tan Kheng Hua, 49, who played Margaret in the ‘Phua Chu Kang’ sitcom, expressed her interest in working with Joe in the next George Town Festival.

“I would do anything to work with him and I see Penang as a hit,” she said when met at the site on Sunday which was the last day of the George Town Festival 2012.

State Town and Country Planning, Housing and Arts Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said the project sparked an interest as the arts is not only confine to art galleries alone.

He said: “There are many types of art, be it sculpture, mural or others.”

He added that to work on the mural paintings, the artist must obtain permission from the building owners and the local councils before commencing work.

Source reference link: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/7/19/north/11670115&sec=North

[My gift to Penang: Zacharevic posing in front of his mural in Upper Penang Road.]

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Penang Property | Stable office rentals in KL

Penang Property | Thursday July 19, 2012

By THOMAS HUONG
huong@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Rental rates for purpose-built offices in Kuala Lumpur were generally stable in the last three years, except for certain suburban and city centre areas which showed an upward trend, according to the 2011 Purpose Built Office Rent Index (PBO-RI) for Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur.

“Looking at the data... the market is still good,” National Property Information Centre (Napic) director Dr Zailan Mohd Isa said at a pre-launch briefing of the 2011 PBO-RI which will be launched today.

The rent index has four regions, namely Kuala Lumpur City Centre-Golden Triangle (KLCC-GT), Centre Business District (CBD), within city centre (WCC) and suburban.


According to the rent index, average monthly rentals for purpose-built offices in the WCC region had increased gradually from RM2.92 per sq ft in the first quarter of 2009 to RM3.46 per sq ft in the fourth quarter of 2011.

This meant that average monthly office rentals in the WCC region had increased 18.5% over a three-year period.

It was also noted that average monthly office rentals in the suburban region had appreciated by 13.2% over a three-year period, rising from RM3.10 per sq ft in the first quarter of 2009 to RM3.51 per sq ft in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The suburban region includes Bangsar, Bukit Kiara, Damansara Heights, Jalan Pantai Baru, Jalan Istana and Jalan Syed Putra.

“Companies may be relocating to the suburban areas,” said Zailan.

Meanwhile, although the KLCC-GT region is the most sought after location in the city, average monthly office rentals were stable (a slight rise from RM4.60 per sq ft in the first quarter of 2009 to RM4.66 per sq ft in the fourth quarter of 2011).

However, the CBD region suffered a drop in average monthly office rentals, from RM3.46 per sq ft in the first quarter of 2009 to RM3.27 per sq ft in the fourth quarter of 2011.

For the entire Kuala Lumpur region under review, average monthly office rentals had increased sightly over a three-year period, from RM3.91 per sq ft in the first quarter of 2009 to RM4.04 per sq ft in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The rent index, which will be produced on a quarterly basis, is developed by Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH), with assistance from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) and University of Malaya.

Zailan said it was the first rent index of its kind in the Asean region.

“It is based on data from actual rental agreements, and not asking rates.”

The rent index defines purpose-built offices as buildings with office use of not less than 75% of net lettable area, and has compiled rental data from 6,831 tenancy leases from 167 buildings.

Zailan said the rent index's aim was to provide a guide on current market rentals for investors, and a benchmark for the financial stability of the country.

“We also want to attract multinational corporations to set up regional headquarters in Kuala Lumpur,” she said.

Zailan also said the PBO-RI would be expanded eventually to cover all the major cities and towns in Selangor, followed by Penang and Johor.

“Getting data is the most dificult part. We urge all property managers and owners to co-operate with us in providing data.”

Source reference link: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/7/19/business/11687866&sec=business

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Penang Property | National Electric Tariff with effect from 1-June-2011

Penang Property | National Electric Tariff with effect from 1-June-2011 / Tarif Elektrik Berkuatkuasa 1-June-2011

Case study 2: With increase new development launching on condominium/apartment in Penang under commercial title, the advantage of commercial title will only be effect if the usage is above 3,300kwh or RM1,419.00 .

Henceforth buying condominium/apartment under commercial title buyers will have to pay more for their electricity bill.

Case study 2a: Based on 600kwh usage for commercial title, you've to pay additional of approx. 30% . This a nominal(avg) household usage with bill of RM200.00(calculated under residential title).

Courtesy of VulcanInternational | Penang Property

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